


Monsters, And The Dead

by whytho



Category: Paranatural (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, I love these kids, Movie Night, Paranatural Halloween Challenge :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 19:31:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8413843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whytho/pseuds/whytho
Summary: They gathered at Violet’s for movie night. (or: movie night ft pizza, pancakes, friendship cuddling, and violet's mother)





	

They gathered at Violet’s for movie night. 

 

Lisa and Cody met a few blocks away to walk together- it was habit, mostly, but Cody liked spending alone time with Lisa. It was mostly spent in safe, easy topics- the weather, school, snacks they brought- but it was easy to talk to Lisa, and they never hung out much without anyone else around. 

 

When they reached Lisa’s house, Jeff was just getting dropped off, clutching a bag of candy and two movies. “Aww, you guys!” he said, grinning at them. “I would have given you a ride if you said you were walking!” 

 

“Nah, it’s fine,” Lisa tells him, shrugging. “We need the exercise.” She smiles lightly at Cody, who grins back, and all three of them climb up onto the porch to ring the doorbell. 

 

Violet appears within a few minutes, in sweats and a t-shirt, and smiles at all three of them. There are children shrieking somewhere behind her. 

 

Cody likes the chaos of Violet’s house- there are little sisters and brothers constantly underfoot and shrieking into eternity, her mother is perpetually frazzled yet always has a smile for them, and no one ever cares if you drop crumbs on the couch or take over the living room for a pillow fort. He spends a lot of time there, mostly because Violet’s mom makes them pancakes after a sleepover and doesn’t even care that Cody was sleeping over. Violet often says she trusts her too much for that, usually accompanied with an eyeroll, but her mother has good reason to. 

 

“We’ve been relegated to the basement,” Violet tells them, ushering them in. “Sorry, dudes.” 

 

“Yeah, basement!” Jeff cheers. “Gosh, do I love your basement.” 

 

Violet sighs exasperatedly, but she’s smiling a little. 

 

After romping down the stairs and leaping over the couch, Cody flops back and allows someone else to figure out the movies. Jeff and Lisa, by the sound of it, try to sit down around him, nudging his feet and elbows out of the way, and at one point someone just straight up picks him up and drops him back down on someone’s lap. It’s messy and chaotic and Jeff has already opened a lollipop and gotten it caught in Violet’s hair, but Cody presses his smile into Lisa’s stomach and listens to the first movie’s opening track. 

 

It’s something about ghouls, he can tell. None of them are really watching it- Violet is texting Ed and Jeff is coming up with a backstory for every single background character that crosses the screen- but the camera angles are beautiful things, and Cody can tell this was one of the movies Lisa picked. It’s got her classic ‘emotional yet dryly hilarious’ feel, and she doesn’t even twitch when there’s a jump scare.

 

The movie ends as most of them do, with a straight white couple gazing into each other’s eyes and declaring their undying love despite the ghouls that are trying to attack them, and Jeff is crying a little. He wasn’t even watching, Cody thinks, and he’s still crying a little. 

 

After the credits roll- the title of the film, Cody discovers, is just as odd a choice as the rest of the film: _Monsters_ \- they take a break. Cody rolls off of everyone; Lisa breaks out the ice cream. Jeff stretches leisurely. Violet spreads herself across the couch, and, humming a little, asks, “Did we all bring Halloween movies?” 

 

“It’s the last week of October,” Lisa tells her. “I’m pretty sure it’s our job to watch Halloween movies.” 

 

“True!” Jeff crows, then: “The next one is about monsters. Dead ones. Ghosts. It’s called _And The Dead_.” He stands and shuffles over to the DVD player, making content little noises under his breath, and adds, “Ed and Max recommended it, since they couldn’t come. Or, rather, Max recommended it and Ed giggled about it. I’m hoping it’s a comedy.”

 

Violet hums under her breath a little more. “I hope it’s not.” 

 

Cody leans his head back and smiles. 

 

It isn’t a comedy- it’s a very serious movie with awful special effects and equally terrible acting, but it is so bad it’s hilarious. It’s like Sharknado, but with ghosts. Lisa is laughing so hard she falls off the couch clutching her sides, and she doesn’t even try to climb back up till the pizza arrives. 

 

They all leap up as the doorbell rings, jumping over each other to get to the stairs. Jeff falls and Cody has no choice but to leave him behind, tears in his eyes, as he takes a running leap over Violet in the hallway. 

 

He arrives at the front door only slightly out of breath, pulling it open and giving the delivery guy a winning smile. “Pizza?” he asks, and twerks an eyebrow at him. 

 

The pizza boy sighs. “Yeah, whatever.”

 

Cody smiles and accepts the pizza, hands the boy his cash, and brings it into the kitchen. Violet’s mom looks up at him and smiles, and then nods at him to take a box downstairs. Grinning at her, he does, and when he trips lightly back downstairs the others are already waiting expectantly for him. 

 

Jeff tilts his head to ask for plates; Cody shrugs easily at him. Putting her bartending skills to good use, Lisa mixes them all drinks- it’s mostly just different sodas poured into a glass, but Cody is impressed nonetheless- and Violet pulls napkins out of the depths of her basement before turning the movie back on. They lean back against the sofa to watch, occasionally spraying Sprite everywhere as someone bursts out laughing, and when the movie is over no one puts another one in; they just let the credits play as Jeff waxes poetic about- Cody isn’t sure what he’s waxing poetic about, but it’s something, and Cody is content to just listen as he goes on about it. 

 

When Jeff quiets, Violet tips her head back and sighs, and no one speaks. 

 

Lisa pulls herself onto the ground, head in Violet’s lap and body against Cody’s side, and she clutches at the hem of his shirt with pale hands. 

 

The movie is still playing, an actress’ soft voice singing as white words flicker over the screen, and Jeff’s hair is soft against the shell of Cody’s ear. 

 

He falls asleep like that- Violet next to him, Jeff on his other side, and Lisa curled up like a cat across all three of them- and he doesn’t wake up even once during the night. 

 

 

 

Cody wakes up early the next morning, before anyone else. He can’t move without waking everyone else up, so he settles for leaning into the couch and closing his eyes, mind loud in the quiet of the room. The light sound of breathing mingles with the hum of the TV, and Cody is very comfortable, even with a Lisa on his stomach and a Jeff drooling on his shoulder and a Violet clinging to his shirt, leech-like. 

 

The bodies surrounding him stir, one by one, as a little more light creeps through the basement windows. It’s gray light, pale and pretty and perfectly October, but it is light nonetheless, and when Cody glances around everyone else has opened their eyes and are looking around, bleary. 

 

Jeff stretches; Lisa rolls off of them onto the floor. Violet cracks her neck, they smile at each other, and they troop upstairs for pancakes. 

 

None of Violet’s family is up yet, so they start mixing batter together themselves. As Lisa lights the stove, Violet grabs the ingredients and Cody pulls out bowls. Jeff stirs it all together, Lisa pours them out, Cody flips them, and Violet makes them pretty on four different plates. 

 

They sit. They eat. The pancakes are fantastic. 

 

One by one, Violet’s family filters downstairs- her younger siblings, first, then the older ones. They bicker noisily, over breakfast and dishes and taking a tray of food up for their mother, and the steadiness of it all is welcome. Cody tries not to grin as he finishes his pancakes, but he’s not quite sure it works. 

 

The light falling through the windows is dancing across the counter tops like girls in valley meadows, soft and sweet and charming. When Cody takes a bite of food, it is warm, and either hot blueberries pop satisfyingly or chocolate chips melt in his mouth, and he thinks he’d rather be nowhere else.

**Author's Note:**

> this is less about actual monsters and the dead and more about how much i love cody jones and also violet but w/e
> 
> talk to me on [ tumblr](https://whythowastakenwhatisthis.tumblr.com)


End file.
